MPEG-4 Upgrade? Are They Serious?

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ddobson

SatelliteGuys Guru
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Feb 5, 2004
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I've read a lot on the MPEG-4 upgrades. A friend near Chicago lost part of his HD programming and the rep made a big deal out of how good and important of a customer he was. They sent someone out the next day (Sunday Afternoon). The guy told him they weren't suppose to do anything with the old dishes and receivers for HD anymore as they were suppose to replace them.

When the guy left my friend called DirecTV. They quoted him $300.00 for new equipment. ($200.00 for dish and $100.00 for receiver) I had already told him they were doing discounted or free upgrades for people in Chicago. They wouldn't budge on the price for him so he hung up.

He called Comcast today and now he's probably going to switch. Is DirecTV really doing this to themselves? If so I need to get rid of my stock.

I don't have HD myself but have been thinking about it in the near future. I told him to call back and get a different Rep and things might be different. He was pretty fed up when I talked to him and is on a Comcast high. He wanted TNT HD anyway and Comcast has it.
 
The stock has been parked under and around 14 bucks for quite a long time. I had them before the News Corp buyout and gave up on the stock last year. Its done nothing but go down. From a financial perspecitve, they are in good shape. From a future growth, they are doing the right things. However, from a stock perspective, they are in trouble. All those sats are extremely expensive. The cost of acquiring and retaining customers is killing their bottom line. The growth rate of new customers is also decelerating.

So, unless you are going to take a hit, the stock isnt going anywhere for quite a long time. You problably wont see the stock get some relief unti after 2007 and alot of the capital expenditures are posted.

Did I mention their customer service isnt what it used to be since News Corp bought it?
 
He was clearly talking to the wrong people -- front end customer support -- "main bank" -- would quote full retail price.

Talk to customer retention or ask for "Advanced Technical Support".

H
 
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